21 Responses to My Version Of The Ten Commandments.

Number 4 kills me. I hate when people take small children to religious things, like the child can even make the conscious choice to believe it, but I guess that’s not the point of it all. Oh and what happened to 3?

I like your list, but about number 2– so having intimate relations with somebody who is in relationship with another or married would be acceptable? From what I know of you, you would not impose your values on others, but I thought you disapproved of cheating. Perhaps that falls into the dishonesty category or maybe it hadn’t occured to you yet.

@YouToMe – Yeah those adultering people give permission even though society and the rules they swore upon still apply.So people who swear, should keep their oaths. That is part of the #6 of trying to be honest with integrity. And yeah it involves adultery.Abraham made the rule not to bow down to graven images (he must have hated his father because that was his profession, making graven images. Somehow it works for Moses to put it down in stone.

An interesting list but I came up with criticism of some though. I trust you don’t mind.———-………. 1) Never take the life of any sentient being unless it is the only way to save an innocent life.Is it alright to kill a man to save the life of a dog?………. 2) Never have any sexual or intimate contact with anyone unless it is desired by that person.No smiling at strangers then?……….3) Never harm or take advantage of those who cannot resist or refuse, especially children.Why mention a specific group? The wrong applies to all.4) Refrain from violence whenever possible.………. 5) Don’t steal. Even to steal bread to feed your children?………. 6) Avoid dishonesty wherever possible, especially with oneself.5) is included in 6), except that 5) is a definite no-no while 6) implies thereare times when one can be dishonest, which would appear to be true. ………. 8) Don’t look down on others to feel better about yourself.Does that mean that it is alright to look down on other if they’re scumbags?………. 7) Do not accept any claim or idea uncritically, including these.………. 9) Worry less about how an idea makes you feel and more about whether itis true.………. 10) Seek to understand, not to believe.7), 9) and 10) are close to being repeats.

@GodlessLiberal – Yeah, funny that.@YouToMe – It’s an honesty thing. I think someone having sex outside of marriage when they’ve pledged to be faithful to another person is wrong, but if someone’s a swinger and their spouse is down with that I could care less. I may not personally agree with it, but making other people conform to my tastes is like making people eat only food I like regardless of whether they like it or not.@PPhilip – Yup.@TheTheologiansCafe – Why in the world would you have to do that for anyone? Animal and human sacrifice are based on primitive (and inaccurate) superstitions. They also happen to be the basis for all judeo-christian religions.@LovesTwo – As do I.@tau_1 – Good ideas are not valid because of who states them. Does 1 + 1 = 2 need an advocate or it’s not correct? If hitler said something that doesn’t make it wrong and if god supposedly said something that doesn’t make it right. I see no need for an advocate. And actually authoritarian morality is a bad thing imo.@Nushirox2 – This is why I said be honest wherever possible, I didn’t state it as an absolute.@YouToMe – : P I think to make it perfect you’d need to scale it up.@Lovegrove – “An interesting list but I came up with criticism of some though. I trust you don’t mind.”I don’t mind criticism in and of itself, no.[“………. 1) Never take the life of any sentient being unless it is the only way to save an innocent life.]”Is it alright to kill a man to save the life of a dog?”I used the term sentient in the sense of self-awareness. So no, a dog wouldn’t apply. Though I don’t think we should be cruel to animals.[………. 2) Never have any sexual or intimate contact with anyone unless it is desired by that person.]”No smiling at strangers then?”You seem to be deliberately taking what I said the wrong way.[……….3) Never harm or take advantage of those who cannot resist or refuse, especially children.]”Why mention a specific group? The wrong applies to all.”Because they are by far the most common victims of abuse and the largest group of humans in a helpless situation.[………. 5) Don’t steal.]”Even to steal bread to feed your children?”Yeah, because that’s what I said. This is where number six comes in.[………. 6) Avoid dishonesty wherever possible, especially with oneself.]”5) is included in 6), except that 5) is a definite no-no while 6) implies thereare times when one can be dishonest, which would appear to be true.”You get that these are my opinions, that I’m not claiming to be infallible and that I’m saying to think critically about them, right? No rule is absolute and applies equally to all situations, thus number 6.[………. 8) Don’t look down on others to feel better about yourself.]”Does that mean that it is alright to look down on other if they’re scumbags?”People will do it anyway. Everyone judges the character of others, we have to in order to survive. But yeah once again you are objecting not to what I said, but to what I didn’t say.[………. 7) Do not accept any claim or idea uncritically, including these.………. 9) Worry less about how an idea makes you feel and more about whether itis true.………. 10) Seek to understand, not to believe.]”7), 9) and 10) are close to being repeats.” I don’t see how.

@agnophilo – I tried many times to make my replies here in bold but most refuse. Therefore, I’ve added three stars “***” in front of each of my four replies.———-……….[………. 2) Never have any sexual or intimate contact with anyone unless it is desired by that person.]“No smiling at strangers then?…….You seem to be deliberately taking what I said the wrong way.*** I latched onto the case that you separated sexual from intimate contact. Smiling is an intimate contact. [………. 5) Don’t steal.]“Even to steal bread to feed your children?”Yeah, because that’s what I said. This is where number six comes in.[………. 6) Avoid dishonesty wherever possible, especially with oneself.]*** In that case, 5 and 6 conflict because 5 is a definite verboten while 6 allows dishonesty under some circumstances. It seems you separate stealing from all other kinds of dishonesty, which I doubt you meant.You get that these are my opinions, that I’m not claiming to be infallible and that I’msaying to think critically about them, right? No rule is absolute and applies equally to all situations, thus number 6.*** You made an absolute rule in 5.……….[………. 8) Don’t look down on others to feel better about yourself.]“Does that mean that it is alright to look down on other if they’re scumbags?”……….People will do it anyway. Everyone judges the character of others, we have to inorder to survive. But yeah once again you are objecting not to what I said, but to what I didn’t say.I merely picked out the first group that came to mind that I don’t mind looking down on.……….[………. 7) Do not accept any claim or idea uncritically, including these.……….………. 9) Worry less about how an idea makes you feel and more about whether it is true.……….………. 10) Seek to understand, not to believe.]“7), 9) and 10) are close to being repeats.”I don’t see how.***Summary of 7: be critical (of possible falsehoods); of 9: seek the truth; of 10: seek to understand (the truth)”

@Lovegrove – Show me where I said anything about seduction.@Lovegrove – ]“*** I latched onto the case that you separated sexual from intimate contact. Smiling is an intimate contact.”I meant actual physical contact.”*** In that case, 5 and 6 conflict because 5 is a definite verboten while 6 allows dishonesty under some circumstances. It seems you separate stealing from all other kinds of dishonesty, which I doubt you meant.”Again, this is why I have rule 7. This list isn’t a substitute for having a brain.*** You made an absolute rule in 5.No, I was just being lazy and didn’t elaborate. I didn’t say “don’t steal ever under any circumstances” – that would be an absolute. “***Summary of 7: be critical (of possible falsehoods); of 9: seek the truth; of 10: seek to understand (the truth)”By that standard (edit it until it’s the same thing and then call it redundant), the first three are identical because they can be re-written as “never (do stuff)”.In reality however, they’re not actually saying the same thing, they’re just in the same ballpark. And if that somehow invalidates them they’re all moral ideas so I guess they’re all redundant.